Written by Edith DeChiara - 2010
My mixed media works probe the external and interior worlds. It frequently references nature as a source of imagery, creating a calligraphic, gestural line that physically describes the external world while evoking mood and alluding to the internal emotional life. These intimately scaled works hint at nature, plants and rocks.
In my work, I also draw upon, ancient alphabets, religious manuscripts, documents, aerial maps, seedpods, and landscapes for inspiration and reference. The “Personal Letters” in drawn or embroidered thread is executed in imaginary script. This series combines the known – familiar format of correspondence, canceled stamps, postal marks, with the unknown – imaginary, indecipherable abstract marks. Initially these abstract marks may raise the possibility that the artifacts make sense, but in reality they do not.
My garden provides the impetus and source for other forms in nature. I also draw upon forms in nature for inspiration and reference. The series titled “Play on Nature” abstracts flower, seeds and seed pods to create what I consider universal shapes and formations.
I use thread as a metaphor for line. The attributes of thread, which appeal to me, include flexibility, delicacy and tensile strength. I use different types of thread: thread pulled from fabric and manipulated to form delicate wispy filaments and lines of heavier weights and value, sewing and embroidery thread. I work on paper, often with the addition of encaustic as a surface layer.